New Q&A stuff from AA's site

[TM2 Dinobot]

I think the real question is, why are we talking so much about anime here when there shall not be anime Minimates made any time soon?

.

I think you just answered your own question...

[groundhog7s]

http://www.artasylum.com/2013/04/ask-dst-204-minimates-are-go/

New Q&A went up yesterday and nobody posted it? For shame....

First off, I really can't believe how many people have asked for Airwolf in these things. Was it really that great of a show (I obviously never watched it). If it were me, I'd much rather see a Magnum PI Minimate.

And if we don't see a Falcon Minimate this year, I'll be shocked if we don't see one around movie time next year.

And who knew DST didn't have rights to do DC Minimates?

[TM2 Dinobot]

I hope that was a kid. Given the spelling mistake and the lack of knowledge of generally how this stuff works. Children are fine. Adult Children need to grow up.

Says the guy still living at home.

Edited April 16, 2013 by TM2 Dinobot

[boyd]

Airwolf is comparable to the A-Team in terms of the level of acting, plot depth and TV-friendly violence. But while the A-Team was family-friendly and light-hearted, Airwolf tried to be adult and super-serious. But any show starring Ernest Borgnine flying an assualt helicopter can not, by its nature, be a serious adult drama.

Airwolf is not very good. But if you like bad TV shows that reek of the 80's, then Airwolf is wonderful. And I would be the first in line to buy Airwolf Minimates.

And it's got one of the best theme songs ever heard on TV.

[hellpop]

I can guarantee you that an Airworf vehicle would sit and sit and sit. But it would probably look pretty cool.

There were some pretty interesting tidbits in here: DST approached the Hunger Games people about products before the movie, and they weren't interested (as an aside, let me just say as a public librarian if they are worried that HG's time has passed it absolutely has not). Predator got so far as to have a line plan laid out once upon a time; I've got a feeling that if Aliens does well we might see Predator in the not-too distant future. And there's no Disney stuff on the horizon, but that could be a swerve since Disney's really quite controlling about what DST can and can't say.

[MisterPL]

Seems like a few TV shows at that time were centered around characters and a signature vehicle; Magnum and his Ferrari, Michael Knight and KITT, The Dukes of Hazzard and the General Lee, the A-Team and thier black van, and of course Airwolf. Plenty of one-off potential there.

And I can't help wondering if AFX has had more success with Alpha Flight or Thundercats.

[groundhog7s]

http://www.artasylum.com/2013/05/ask-dst-208-boom-go-the-minimates/

New Q&A for the day. I felt like this was more informative than most.

[karamazov80]

Pretty unambiguous responses, even though most are, "no plans" for this or that. I can appreciate that!

[Hawkeye's Junk]

sigh, so tired of the re release question due to high online prices. Just save your money and buy em.

[karamazov80]

Yeah, I can't be bothered to pay $20 for a figure, so I'm gonna e-mail DST every week asking them to invest thousands into a re-release that may or may not pay off for them.

[youbastards]

Am I the only one concerned about a 'Best of' Walking Dead series already? Granted, Chuck only said that there has been "some talk", but I really don't think a 'Best of' is really needed at this point. Maybe a few more years into the license, but Wave 1 wasn't even a year ago.

[MisterPL]

Yeah, a "Best of" series for TWD seems very premature at this point. It would be a nice bone to throw newbies and veterans alike depending on the mix. Include hard-to-find characters like Glenn with totally new walkers and it would probably be a hit. (In 2015.)

[monkeycrumb]

Regarding the LOTR wave 3 mates cancellation:

DST Chuck: That was before we acquired the Minimate assets from Art Asylum and they did that line on their own. I have some idea but it’s not for me to say.

I really would love to hear more about this. Assuming there's more to it than just not enough sales.

[TM2 Dinobot]

sigh, so tired of the re release question due to high online prices. Just save your money and buy em.

Thank you. It's not like these characters are hard to find, just expensive. I do this without a job, people!

[undeadpool]

I have to say, its still obvious we wont see Batman TV minimates anytime soon, but Chucks answer lent itself to a lot more leeway than the original announcement of the Batman TV line

[Lobsterman]

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Chuck's response to the Banshee/Sunfire question seemed pretty loaded. Usually when someone asks about a specific character, we get something like "not in the plans yet" or "maybe, never say never," but his "yeah, that would make sense" this time was pretty coy...

[Zak Katz]

Yeah I read into that to Lobsterman, maybe someone did nail that guess for wave 54.

Why does Chuck say no to Squirrel Girl so abruptly?

How do I ask a question? No one asked for Carl again

I'm glad some agree with me about people asking for redos

[MisterPL]

Regarding the LOTR wave 3 mates cancellation:

DST Chuck: That was before we acquired the Minimate assets from Art Asylum and they did that line on their own. I have some idea but it’s not for me to say.

I really would love to hear more about this. Assuming there's more to it than just not enough sales.

I recall the Toy Biz line enjoying a pretty successful run since before the first film's release.

AA and Play Along came late to the game. I don't think they started offering product until the second or third film hit. And Play Along (now The Bridge Direct) ended up cannibalizing Minimates retailer sales by offering small scale figures in their "Armies of Middle Earth" line.

This time around there's a lot less competition. The Bridge is only offering 4" and 6" figures but not nearly in the quantities that Toy Biz did. I think there's room in the market for Middle Earth Minimates but DST should strike while the iron's still hot.

I have to say, its still obvious we wont see Batman TV minimates anytime soon, but Chucks answer lent itself to a lot more leeway than the original announcement of the Batman TV line

I read that as "We'll jump at the chance but right now it's not part of the contract."

[Shanester]

LOTR stuff was WAY late and hard to find for a while. I was personally very excited for the line and wished it had been planned better. As far as what happened to the unreleased figures? Who knows. I have one of the un-produced Orcs...

[karamazov80]

Am I the only one concerned about a 'Best of' Walking Dead series already? Granted, Chuck only said that there has been "some talk", but I really don't think a 'Best of' is really needed at this point. Maybe a few more years into the license, but Wave 1 wasn't even a year ago.

Seems like that's about how long it took for the "Best of" Ghostbusters wave to come out. Not that it was necessary, either, but if sales are to be had then a business should consider it I guess. Walking Dead is still a hot commodity b/c of the TV show. Will that continue after the next season? Hard to say. Strike while the iron's hot if you're gonna strike.

[monkeycrumb]

Regarding the LOTR wave 3 mates cancellation:

DST Chuck: That was before we acquired the Minimate assets from Art Asylum and they did that line on their own. I have some idea but it’s not for me to say.

I really would love to hear more about this. Assuming there's more to it than just not enough sales.

I recall the Toy Biz line enjoying a pretty successful run since before the first film's release.

AA and Play Along came late to the game. I don't think they started offering product until the second or third film hit. And Play Along (now The Bridge Direct) ended up cannibalizing Minimates retailer sales by offering small scale figures in their "Armies of Middle Earth" line.

This time around there's a lot less competition. The Bridge is only offering 4" and 6" figures but not nearly in the quantities that Toy Biz did. I think there's room in the market for Middle Earth Minimates but DST should strike while the iron's still hot.

>I have to say, its still obvious we wont see Batman TV minimates anytime soon, but Chucks answer lent itself to a lot more leeway than the original announcement of the Batman TV line

I read that as "We'll jump at the chance but right now it's not part of the contract."

Wait, so you're saying Play Along *became* The Bridge Direct? I wasn't aware they were practically the same company. (as in same people I assume?). Cool if that's the case. I liked Play Along's Armies of Middle Earth stuff for the most part - not the best marketed, lots of pegwarmers, but they made a few cool playsets. Hard to think they killed the Minimates. I loved the ToyBiz 6" line and still have almost everything they put out, even the Balrog (or was that Balrog NECA?).

I wholeheartedly agree about Hobbit minimates NOW while the iron is still hot, along with LOTR. But I got the feeling the first Hobbit didn't exactly set the merchandising world on fire. Granted, I didn't like the figures, but I bought the heck out of the Lego sets! (seriously anyone even remotely interested needs to pick up the Hobbit home set! Great set and one that will skyrocket in price once it's retired). Any case of not putting out designs due to movie spoilers can be easily supplemented by a LOTR wave.

As for 60's TV Batman, isn't the 2" market covered by Mezco? I'm skipping most of the stuff everyone will be putting out, but Minimates I'd have been all over because they wouldn't have the problems people like Mattel are having with likeness rights.

And as for Banshee and Sunfire - I want to call them a 100% given at this point. Chuck's answer pretty much echoes his previous answers right before we got other major fan-requested characters, plus Zach stated that between 3 waves (54, TRU 17 & 18) that a lot of wishlisters were going to be very happy. The top of most wishlists have Banshee/Sunfire & Falcon/Winter Soldier at the top, edging out most other requests like Wrecking Crew & Brotherhood (even though those are very high up themselves, I think the first 2 sets edge them out by at least 1% more requests)

ALSO notice that Chuck shoots down Wrecking Crew & Brotherhood SETS, but not the characters themselves!

[MisterPL]

Wait, so you're saying Play Along *became* The Bridge Direct? I wasn't aware they were practically the same company. (as in same people I assume?). Cool if that's the case. I liked Play Along's Armies of Middle Earth stuff for the most part - not the best marketed, lots of pegwarmers, but they made a few cool playsets. Hard to think they killed the Minimates. I loved the ToyBiz 6" line and still have almost everything they put out, even the Balrog (or was that Balrog NECA?).

As for 60's TV Batman, isn't the 2" market covered by Mezco? I'm skipping most of the stuff everyone will be putting out, but Minimates I'd have been all over because they wouldn't have the problems people like Mattel are having with likeness rights.

I had read somewhere that The Bridge was made up of folks from both Play Along and Toy Biz. There should be oodles of LOTR experience there. But, yeah; the Toy Biz line was one of the best ever.

And I'm sure Mezco got dibs on the Classic Batman license as a simple extension of the DC license they already had.

[battlecat]

Bummer about Game of Thrones, but it's good to hear they were considering it at least. I wonder if Mattel would be more open to licensing out MOTU whenever their Classics line wraps up?

[MisterPL]

I wonder if Mattel would be more open to licensing out MOTU whenever their Classics line wraps up?

Mattel licenses to manfacturers of bobbleheads, vinyl figures, and papercraft dolls. They don't have a construction kit or block figure category of their own so I don't see why they wouldn't license to DST. Maybe once the movie hits.

[Shanester]

I recently spoke with the owner of Icon Heroes and he flat out said that Mattel is why there is no MOTU Minimates.